Spain’s interior minister on Friday recommended that the European Commission and partner countries take action if they receive booby-trapped letters, similar to those sent to various entities in Spain, admitting they may be linked to the war in Ukraine .
In a letter to European Union (EU) member states and to Brussels, Fernando Grande-Marlaska warns that the six booby-trapped letters addressed to Spanish Prime Minister, Pedro Sánchez, to the embassies of Ukraine and the United States, among other entities, “Possibly related to Russian invasion of Ukraine”🇧🇷
In the text, quoted by the Spanish agency Europa Press, the minister reports on the detected packages, the first of which was sent to the Moncloa Palace (seat of the Spanish government) on November 24 and addressed to Pedro Sánchez.
Two similar packages were received by the Ukrainian embassy in Madrid on Wednesday and by the US embassy on Thursday.
Other booby-trapped letters were also sent to the Ministry of Defence, the Satellite Center at Torrejón de Ardoz Air Base (Madrid) and the Instalaza arms company in Zaragoza.
Only one of the booby-trapped packages caused a minor injury, when a Ukrainian embassy employee opened the envelope and suffered a hand injury.
According to Marlaska, “The investigations and results of the analyzes carried out by experts from the national police show that both the characteristics of the envelopes and their contents correspond”🇧🇷
That is why the Spanish minister considered “necessary to inform the European institutions and [restantes] Member states of these events, which may be related to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, to assess possible actions if they are repeated in other countries”🇧🇷
Spain’s interior ministry said on Thursday that the booby-trapped items contained in the six envelopes were homemade and caused a “sudden flame explosion”.
The investigation revealed that the letters had been sent from Spain, all in brown envelopes with “similar features”, including the handwriting.
The existence of these letters was reported after Wednesday’s announcement from the Ukrainian embassy, although the first was sent to the Spanish Prime Minister on November 24.
On the evening of the same day, receipt of yet another letter was confirmed, this time addressed to the director of the company Instalaza de Zaragoza, a manufacturer of weapons that has supplied Ukraine in the context of the ongoing conflict caused by the Russian invasion.
On Thursday morning, another envelope was discovered at Torrejón Air Base, it was addressed to the director of the EU satellite center.
This was the only case where the envelope did not detonate in a controlled manner, making it crucial to the investigation.
A fifth package was also sent to Spanish Defense Minister Margarita Robles on Thursday morning, and a sixth package was discovered shortly after at the US Embassy in Madrid.
The letters sent by Marlaska this Friday were addressed to those responsible for the home affairs of the other EU Member States, to the European Commissioner for Home Affairs, Ylva Johansson, to the President of the Parliamentary Commission for Liberties, Juan Fernando López Aguilar, the Executive Director of Europol (European Police Office), Catherine de Bolle, and the EU Counter-Terrorism Operation Coordinator, Ilkka Salmi.
He explained to everyone that the investigation had been taken over by the National Court and also that it ordered “an increase in security measures in the diplomatic delegations present in Spain, as well as in other areas of special protection”, already strengthening the level of security promulgated after the start of the war in Ukraine last February.
Source: DN
